Mumbai: Senior players Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were retained in Grade B as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the Annual Player Contracts for Team India Senior Men and Senior Women for the 2025-26 season. These contracts will start on October 1, 2025, and end on September 30, 2026.
The contracts show a clear generational shift in Indian cricket. Shubman Gill is now in Grade A for the senior men, joining Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja. Meanwhile, long-time players Kohli and Rohit dropped down to Grade B, along with KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Kuldeep Yadav, and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Bumrah is the only fast bowler in the top grade, which confirms his importance under different conditions. Jadeja’s place in Grade A shows his ongoing value as an all-rounder.
For the women, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Deepti Sharma lead the Grade A list. The women’s contracts also include several younger players, highlighting the growth of the senior women’s pool.
The men’s Grade C list is the largest, featuring a mix of emerging talent and format specialists. This group includes Axar Patel, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Arshdeep Singh, Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, and Ruturaj Gaikwad, among others.
Young players like Dhruv Jurel, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Sai Sudharsan have been recognized for their consistent performances.
In the women’s team, players such as Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, and Harleen Deol appear in Grades B and C. Newer names like Uma Chetry, Kranti Gaud, and Kashvee Gautam have also received central contracts.
(IANS)
